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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345964">The Best Is Yet To Come</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoffkk/pseuds/hoffkk'>hoffkk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Questions and Kisses [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Prodigal Son (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brightwell, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Romantic Fluff, Wedding Planning, mother of the groom-zilla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:07:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345964</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoffkk/pseuds/hoffkk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Malcolm and Dani become engaged, his mother gets a little overzealous with the wedding planning. The couple is grateful but also annoyed and at a loss.  How does one stop Hurricane Jessica?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dani Powell &amp; Jessica Whitly, Malcolm Bright &amp; Jessica Whitly, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Questions and Kisses [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Best Is Yet To Come</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The last of my Questions and Kisses. Enjoy!</p><p>Question: What do you think I'm doing here?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Mother, what are you doing here?" Malcolm asked curiously. He wasn't expecting her arrival this morning, yet here she was just letting herself right into his apartment as classy and sassy as ever.</p><p>"What do you <em>think</em> I'm doing here?" Jessica retorted exasperatedly. Not waiting for a response, she quickly added, "I'm here to plan the wedding of course."</p><p>Sitting at the counter next to Dani drinking coffee, he shared a confused look with his new fiancée then flicked his gaze back to his mother and replied, "We literally just got engaged two days ago."</p><p>"Exactly. We're all ready a full day behind," She noted, moving forward with her designer handbag in one hand and a large paper shopping bag in the other. "and if this is going to be the event of the season, we must begin preparations as soon as possible. Speaking of... what season were you two thinking of getting married in?"</p><p>"We haven't really gotten that far." Dani told her.</p><p>"Oh, no matter, we should really pick the location first and then see what they have open over the next year," Jessica said with a wave of the hand. "which reminds me, I took the liberty of making a few calls yesterday to the trendiest wedding venues in the city and..." She continued to rant as she walked off toward the living room to put down her bags and get out her phone. Malcolm rolled his eyes then mouthed "Sorry" to Dani who just smirked and gestured with her head to follow. Heading down the hall with their coffee, they all sat down on the couch as Jessica looked at the notes on her cell and listed off the venues she had called and the dates available. After much discussion, they settled on the Tribeca Rooftop. It had the wow factor that Jessica wanted, and Dani liked the idea of an outdoor wedding, especially after looking at the pictures of the location in a wedding magazine that Jessica had brought with her. As for Malcolm, he was happy as long as both of the women were happy. With this decision made, his mother made a call to book the location. Next, Jessica grabbed the shopping bag she had brought and pulled out a fancy white board with white ribbons stretched across it, creating an elegant diamond pattern.</p><p>"This is the wedding vision board." She smiled as she handed it over to Dani.</p><p>"Vision board?" Dani queried with a quirk of the brow as she passed the magazine to Malcolm and took the board.</p><p>"Every time we make a decision, we add it to the board under one of the ribbons to create the perfect vision of the perfect wedding." Pausing a moment, Jessica grabbed the wedding magazine from Malcolm and her scissors from her purse. Then, after some tearing and cutting, she slid a small picture of the rooftop between two ribbons in the center of the board. "There. Brilliant." She went on, admiring her handiwork. "Now, let's talk about color scheme." The discussion went on for a couple hours as they talked colors, flowers, and food. The latter brought up the question of the head count for the wedding. When his mom was talking about inviting over 300 people, Malcolm knew he had to put an end to her madness but didn't know how. Then, like a miracle from heaven, his phone rang. Hastily pulling it from his pocket, he answered after the first ring, "Hey, Gil. Good to hear from you, buddy. What's up? A case? Uh huh, of course. We'll be right there. Bye."</p><p>"Malcolm, you <em>can't</em> leave now." His mother grumbled unhappily.</p><p>"If there's a case, we don't have a choice." Dani told her. "Don't worry, we will finish this conversation later."</p><p>"We better. The wedding is in 8 months, and we've got a lot of work to do." Jessica told them.</p><p>"Right. Why don't you head home and work on the guest list then? You make your own, and we will make our own, then we can cross reference them later this week." Malcolm suggested.</p><p>"Fine." Jessica huffed. "I suppose that will work. Oh, and I want to make an appointment at Kleinfeld 's Bridal, so you need to decide on the wedding party ASAP, okay?"</p><p>"Will do." Malcolm nodded.</p><p>"All right, go do whatever it is you guys do to get ready for work. I'll show myself out." Then, grabbing her purse, she gave a wave and an air kiss then called out, "Ta-ta for now, my darlings."</p><p>The couple stood and returned Jessica's goodbye as they watched her head back to the front of the apartment and out the front door. Once the door shut behind his mother, Malcolm sank back down to the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank god."</p><p>"What are you doing? We have to get going." Dani said crossing her arms and staring down at her fiancé as he ran his hands through his hair and leaned back.</p><p>Resting his feet on the coffee table, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, willing away a small headache that was beginning to form. After second, he replied casually, "No, we don't. That was just Ainsley."</p><p>"What?"  Dani questioned, feeling puzzled.</p><p>"I lied to get my mom to leave." He explained.</p><p>"Wow. Thats..." She trailed off, coming to sit beside him before finishing. "one of the sweetest things you've ever done. Thank you."</p><p>Malcolm felt her warm lips against his cheek and suddenly felt much better. Opening his eyes and dropping his hand, he inquired, "So, you're not mad."</p><p>"No." Dani assured. "Don't get me wrong, your mom was being very helpful, but she was also a little..."</p><p>"Intense? Neurotic?" He suggested.</p><p>With a smirk, she shook her head at him then amended, "I was gonna say overwhelming."</p><p>"Yeah, well, Jessica Whitly is nothing if not a planner, all the way down to the very last detail." Malcolm assured. "And when she sinks her perfectly manicured claws into a project, she really gets into it, especially if it involves me."</p><p>"Clearly." Dani retorted, staring at the nearby upholstered chair that currently displayed their vision board which was exploding with magazine clippings now. "I mean, knew wedding's were a lot, but Whitly weddings are A LOT a lot."</p><p>"Don't worry, I'll talk to her." He told her as he moved his feet back to the floor and threaded their fingers together."I'll tell her to back off and let us make the decisions. In fact, just say the word, and I can tell her we changed our minds about everything we decided today."</p><p>"No. Don't do that." She tossed back. "I like our plans."</p><p>"Really?" Malcolm challenged skeptically. "Because I know you, Dani Powell, and grand events aren't exactly your style. You can't really want a fancy rooftop wedding with over 300 people."</p><p>"The concept isn't terrible." Dani replied vaguely, not wanting to admit that he was right. "Besides, it made your mom so happy when I agreed with her suggestions."</p><p>"But this wedding isn't about <em>her</em>." He argued. "It's about <em>us</em>."</p><p>"I know." She nodded, pulling his hand into her lap and sandwiching it between her own. "But I also know your mom has been through hell ever since your dad's arrest twenty years ago and deserves to finally have something good to celebrate. You <em>all</em> do. So, let her plan her heart out and create an amazing celebration as big as she wants. She'll be happy, and it'll make everything much easier for us in the long run."</p><p>Malcolm looked into her warm brown eyes and smiled at how incredible she was. He never thought about the wedding that way, but Dani, as usual, was right. Happy occasions were in much shorter supply for the Whitly family than most. They had been since he was ten. So, now that these joyful moments were coming around more often, they owed it to themselves to make the most of them. Needing to be certain about her stance on this though, he asked in confirmation, "Are you sure?"</p><p>"Positive." Dani smiled back. "Honestly, this may not be the wedding I always pictured, but there is only one detail that really matters to me."</p><p>"What's that?" Malcolm questioned with a tilt of the head, trying to read her expression.</p><p>"You, waiting for me at the end of the aisle." She smiled affectionately, meaning every word. It was true. Jessica could do whatever she wanted... release 1,000 doves, dress her like a cupcake, invite all of New York City... it didn't matter. As long as the end game was marrying Malcolm, she'd be happy, truly, blissfully happy.</p><p>"Done." He beamed with pleasure before closing the gap between them and kissing her slowly and deeply to seal the promise.</p><p>Dani responded in kind, cupping the side of his face with her free hand. After a long moment, she pulled back and stared into his sapphire gaze as she stroked his cheek tenderly with her thumb. Not wanting the moment to end, Dani bit her lip then said, "You know, we should probably do that again... as practice for the big day."</p><p>With a cheeky grin Malcolm countered, "Or we could practice for the big <em>night</em>."</p><p>Her smile widened and amusement lit her eyes as she replied, "We could do that."</p><p>Without hesitation, Malcolm moved in one quick fluid motion, lifting Dani from the couch bridal style. She squealed in surprise and giggled in delight as he headed down the hall and across the threshold of the bedroom. If being engaged was this wonderful, Dani couldn't wait to be married. Starting a life with Malcolm was definitely going to be the best thing that ever happened to her. Yes, the best was definitely yet to come.</p>
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